Snake Pass review
Snake Pass review
There is one mechanic every platformer collectathon have in common. Jumping. In case you’re an alien and unfamiliar with the concept, it’s the act of pushing oneself into the air using the muscles in legs and feet, in order to temporarily reach higher places.
Snakes cannot jump. And yet, Snake pass is a platformer in which you are a snake. The game is highly polished, and the control scheme (I used an XBOX360 controller) were clearly designed with love and feel perfect for the situation. Although the first hour of the game involved a lot of myself just barely controlling a snake which flip-flopped haphazardly over bamboo, a few hours in and moving Noodle feels natural. You quickly learn how to move like a snake, think like a snake and climb like a snake (and if you’re having trouble, your helpful little bird friend Doodle will pull your tail along behind you, preventing the weight of your own body pulling you down into the abyss).
The reason this game is successful isn’t just the excellent control scheme. The entire world is built to train you up to become the best platforming snake that ever entered Haven Tor, gently pushing you to more difficult challenges in easy increments. Sure, there are some devilishly difficult collectables even on the first level, but if you follow the main goal of collecting gatestones in each level then the difficulty is a pleasant curve. First, learn to move in the traditional serpentine way, then how to raise your head. Now wrap yourself around this bamboo, and now try it without a thick end so it’s much easier to slide off. Now try this frame, and then this frame dangling over a pit. As you can see, the game presents each new challenge in a safe environment, where the only consequence is perhaps sliding around and back up a slope or out of some water, eventually ramping up the stakes to have you navigate noodle across structures over deadly bottomless pits, flaming coals and spikes.
The world is gorgeous, colours are vibrant, and the style clearly pulls from old platformers such as Banjo-Kazooie in a visual delight. The soundtrack fits the Aztec-style art and has some of those familiar Kirkhope-Wise inspired inflections found in so many platformers, without getting too annoying. I’ve also played parts of the game with reduced music audio listening to podcasts, and the sound design is not so key having other audio playing is detrimental, if that’s how you prefer to play your games.
My main criticisms with the game are technical – my inverted controls inexplicably revert back to normal regularly and even when correct, the camera can sometimes sabotage an excellent climb by violently swinging unexpectedly causing Noodle to flail into the distance. The world is littered with “save panels” on the floor which save progress and provide a respawn point if you die in the level. Dying after collecting a number of collectables without saving here results in losing them all, which some people may enjoy but I found frustrating at best, especially when there was a large number of easy collectables or something particularly difficult to pick up.
All in all, Snake Pass is a delightful take on a completely new concept, something the games industry should always welcome. The game has elements of childlike fun punctuated by adrenaline as you approach difficult obstacles, and clear progression throughout where you don’t have to unlock new abilities, as you, the player, develop new strategies and approaches to manoeuvring Noodle and reaching all the collectables. The pure innovation subverting the standard platforming genre whilst still feeling familiar is genius, and fortunately for Sumo Digital, it pays off and produced an enjoyable game as well as this inventive mechanic.